Phone & Internet Guide

The telecommunications (phone and internet) company in Mexico is called Telmex (Teléfonos de México). The office serving our area is located in the town of Bucerias.

About Phones & Internet Service

Local Calls

Most hotels, vacation rentals and homes have local phone service installed. If you don’t have access to a landline or cell phone (see below), you can purchase a Ladatel phone card. These pre-paid phone cards are sold at most grocery stores and pharmacies and are available in $30, $50 and $100 peso denominations. Find a Telmex pay phone, insert the card into the slot and follow the directions on the screen. There is a button on the phone to change the language of the instructions from Spanish to English.

Long Distance Calls

As of January 1, 2015, Mexico’s Instituto Federal de Telecomunicaciones eliminated long-distance charges for telephone calls within Mexico, stating that all calls are considered local. This applies to both landlines and cell phones. Telmex also dropped international calling charges for most of their packages.

If you don’t have access to a landline or cell phone, you can easily make calls using Skype or Vonage, which are software programs that allow you to make calls via the internet.

Cell Phones

If you plan on staying for a while, you can purchase a cell phone at most Telcel, IUSACell and Movistar outlets. Both monthly and pay-as-you-go (which you can recharge at your convenience) plans are available. To check to see how much time you have remaining, dial *133#.

Another option is to bring an unlocked cell phone and buy a Mexican sim card. If you want to use your US/Canadian cell phone instead, you will most likely need to order international (Mexico) service ahead of time. If you don’t do this, the rates and roaming charges can be very high.

Keep in mind that reception is limited in our area, and there is almost no cell phone coverage in Los Ayala.